


Snitches and Stitches Ch 5

by anotherwriter



Series: The Batman Series [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Begging, Crying, F/M, Interrogation, Kidnapping, Restraints, Sexual Harassment, Waterboarding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 17,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29533701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anotherwriter/pseuds/anotherwriter
Summary: "did batman give you that bracelet?""yes," I gasped and nodded at the camera, eyes almost bulging out of my head with fear,"and is that how he knew how to find you the second and third time?" where were they getting this? I dare not look away from the camera to gauge her expression."yes," I cried a little harder, praying it wasn't going to go further into this topic“The girl I let keep my knife, I'm guessing Batman sent her too?”“Yes,” I answered to my shame like a well trained dog.“Does she work for him?” she continued.“I don’t know!” I yelled at the camera, “I’m sorry! All I know is they know each other!”“He says he knows you're telling the truth,” maze listen for a second, “did you ask for him or was she just sent for you?”“He sent her,” I panted, “I never wanted a bodyguard. I tried to tell him I didn't want her," I shut my eyes to cry more, shaking my head, "I- I- I knew she'd get hurt… get killed!"“Has Batman ever seen you without it being necessary?” she asked.“He came by one night to check on me,” I sniffled in a whisper, “that’s all.”“What did you do with him?”
Relationships: Dom Batman - Relationship, Sub Annabella
Series: The Batman Series [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2155113





	Snitches and Stitches Ch 5

Three weeks later I was coming into my apartment after walking with Skylar to return our Red box movies. She’d gotten a TV for me, having put it in while I was in the shower one day. I put my keys on the hook next to it and looked at the clock, it was 9:30pm. After getting ready for the night I went to get into my bed and read my book. I had on my favorite silky panties and soft loose fitting t. I’d just taken a bubble bath and was feeling quite cozy. Just as my book was getting good something smashed into my window so hard I couldn't believe it didn't break.

"oh my god!" I flew backwards into the wall behind my bed after falling out of it. 

my lights came on without me making them and an alarm started ringing from somewhere. It was ear piercing and I covered my ears, confused as to where it was coming from. My door flew open and I screamed again, but it was Skylar. she ran to me, grabbed the top of my arm, my pajama bottoms off the edge of the bed and had me out the door before I had barely stopped screaming. She locked it while I put on my jamies then started dragging me down the stairs asking what happened, but I could only tell her someone tried to break my window and that I had no idea where the alarm was coming from.

I was glancing around us constantly, barely keeping up as I tripped along. we got a few flights down and she put her hand up to halt me so she could look at me hard. I nodded at her eyes wide and clenched my jaw to keep my teeth from chattering. she listened for a moment and then began going up the stairs instead of down. I heard heavy steps coming up the stairs. Holy cow, where were we gonna go now? We could only go up for so long. out of nowhere a dark figure came swinging from the stairs above us. their feet were coming right towards Skylar’s face, but she was twisting gracefully to roll out the way.

She hopped up and was already facing her opponent. her hands flat out, palms facing her enemy in a fighting stance. She looked completely calm and focused as she analyzed Mazikeen. She was smiling at us as she slowly stood from her roll, that familiar look of hope in her eyes. Hope that Skylar would put up a good fight for her. her dark beautiful chocolate shin and her wild natural tightly curly hair framed around her face in a relaxed, curly fro. her lips had that same almost black brown lipstick she likes. her thick lips already curled up in anticipation of what she hoped was a good fight.

"Johnny says hello Anna," she never took her eyes off Skylar, knowing I was no threat. 

Maze took out her twin recurved knives from their holsters and flipped them around a few times skillfully to walk slowly in front of Skylar back and forth. her smile widened, her eyes dark and fierce. it made me want to jump out a window to escape her. Skylar said nothing, nor did her expression change, only she slowly stepped between Mazikeen and I. The people on the stairs under us caught up and began to surround us. They came in to grab me and Skylar, she was already rearing back to defend us both when Mazikeen halted them.

“Stop! Block the stairs and stay out of the way. she’s mine,” real authority in her voice as she barked at them. 

They all slowly backed away from us to stand at the edge of the stairs going up and down giving us the entire hallway. I looked at them, they all had masks on and were in all black. I could tell most of them were female, but they were all built quite large.

“Try to stay calm Annabella,” Skylar said to me level headed. She seemed completely calm, like nothing was wrong, “panicking won't help anything.”

"nice night to die, huh?" she stopped flipping her knives around to grip them properly.

They came out of her hands to curve down her wrist like they were meant to and she lowered in her fighting stance. no, no, no, no i knew what maze could do. she was about to slice her up just to toy with her so she can enjoy it before finishing her off. I grabbed my bracelet to start clicking the button, but then I realized I could get him killed too… Skylar was going to die, there was nothing I could do to stop that, but there was no reason for them to both die. I could never endanger him like this. Savage was one thing, he was just one guy, but this was an entire team of people headed by Mazikeen. Not only that, but they were all Johnny’s people and some of them I saw had guns.

“Mazikeen,“ I put my hands up at her.

“Shut up Anna,“ she said aggravated.

“Maze please, I'm begging you. don’t kill her. I'll go with you, I'll do whatever you want just please, leave her out of it,” my voice shook with fear. Talking back to maze was never a good idea.

“I’m not the one who brought her into it, now **shut the fuck up** ,” she said furious at me. I was ruining her moment.

“Annabe-, “ but Skylar was cut off when Mazikeen lunged at her.

Skylar defected the knife off to the side with her forearm. the knife sliced through the arm of her leather jacket, but Skylar didn’t react so she must have had armor under her clothes. Mazikeen came in with her other blade to try and slice her knife all the way up the length of Skylar’s body, but she twisted around her so they were back to back. Skylar’s elbow kept coming around as she went to drive it with the momentum into her temple. Mazeikeen ducked and went to throw her elbow into the side of Skylar’s knee, roaring with the effort.

Skylar tried to get out of the way, but it was only enough to lessen the damage, not stop it. She cried a very short control grunt as her knee was bent sideways. She straightened quickly and brought her other knee up to strike Mazikeen in the back of the head. maze cried in the exact same manner, then rolled sideways to put some space between them. The movement put her closer to me and Skylar came forward with a hard grunt to do a front flip directly over Maze and land between us.

“Skylar, please just leave. Please don’t die for this!” I shrieked at her, “I told you this would happen!!!”

“I’m not going to die,” she said, level headed and very sure of herself.

“Aren’t you?“ Mazikeen had stood and was pacing in front of us again. She raises her eyebrows humorously.

“Maze, please just knock her out and let’s leave-” I cut off with a panicked yelp when Skylar attacked again.

She came at her to spin into a lighting fast kick. maze twisted out of the way and they began to really go at each other now. They attacked each other so fast I could barely make out what was happening. They grunted and screamed with exertion as they lunged at each other. They ducked and rolled out of the way of each other's attacks. Skylar held her own, but so did maze. I’d seen mazikeen fight, i knew she was holding back to prolong her fun. The longer they fought the louder they got as they both began to really get into it. Skylar’s cries of surprised pain started to become more frequent as Mazikeen began to grace her and wear her down.

“Stop!" I grabbed my hair tightly in both hands and screamed at them as loud as I could over the noise, “please stop fighting! Please Mazeikeen! Just let me go with you! Leave her alone!”

They didn’t acknowledge me. Mazikeen did a back flip and kicked Skylar in the chin as she did. Her head snapped back and she staggered a bit, but went back to attention immediately. Now that they had stopped moving for a second I could see the cuts over Skylar’s body. Some were so shallow they only cut her clothes, but others were so deep they would no doubt require stitches. They were everywhere, though Skylar showed no signs of pain in her face. To my astonishment, mazikeen had a few tears in her leather outfit, a few cuts and bruises too… my eyes grew wide at her… mazikeen had always seemed untouchable. To see her bleed, even a little seemed unreal. She still looked completely fine though and smirked at Skylar.

“Your a good fighter,” Mazikeen threw both of her knives in the air and caught them, then flipped them a few times in her grasp so fast they whistled thro the air in her palm, “it’s been years since I've went up against someone so skilled. It’s been a real treat, but i am on a time limit.”

She threw one of her knives in the air again to catch it in the other hand to hold them both in one. Then she drew a knife from somewhere to throw it. I thought for sure she was throwing it at Skylar, but when it pinned me to the wall by my shirt I screamed and grabbed it. Skylar turned to glance over her shoulder at me to make sure I wasn't dead, but it was too late.

“Skylar no!“ I tried to warn her, even pointing to Maze to try and get her attention back on her.

maze had already ran to slide over the wooden floor and slice the back of Skylar's’s ankle, it went in at least two inches. Skylar fell to the ground losing complete control of her entire foot. I had been wiggling the blade back and forth to try and get it out. now I turned to put my bare foot against the wall to yank backwards a few times. My grip slipped and I fell backwards. my shirt ripped just barley before the knife gave and I landed on the ground. I frantically flew into a sprint to get between them.

"no more! I told you I would go! no more please maze!" I dove between them and put a hand against Skylar to balance on top of her and my other hand up defensibly over us, “just please don’t kill her!”

"you were always gonna go Anna," she said to me like i was the dumb one in the classroom.

Skylar was trying to lean up from behind and move me out of the way, but I braced my feet against the ground to push backwards, putting my weight on top of her. men and women surrounded us to pull me off of Skylar. They yanked me so hard it hurt my neck. I clutched at her clothing, but she was actually the one to pry my fingers loose and push me away. She knew Mazikeen was probably about to finish her off. They pulled me back and held me so tightly blood flow was cut off. I fought against them, desperate to get back to her, but someone behind me grabbed a handful of my hair and jerked me backwards so that a bunch was pulled out. I yelped in response.

“Chill!” one of the girls yelled in my ear and I stopped struggling as hard to keep watching them. They had my head pulled back so far that I had to look down out of my eyes and still had a hard time seeing them clearly.

“I'm sorry Annabella,“ her face looked so guilty as her eyes watered some, like she wanted to cry from this guilt. She turned to face her fate, bold and unafraid, “I hope you know what you're getting yourself into, because I guarantee you just bit off more than you can chew.”

“You sure? because it looks like I didn't bite off enough. Oh that's right, you are hinting at something else aren’t you? Whatever could you mean?” she started rubbing her chin like she was thinking very hard., “Oh wait, I don't give a shit. Besides, I know a lot more than you think and Batman won’t be a problem,” maze took out a different blade and tossed it up before catching it, i knew what she was about to do next 

"Please don't ma-," one of them struck me across the face, but I straightened quickly., "maze pleeease, please do-," i was hit so hard this time i had to be held up to be kept from falling.

She leaned down to casually stab Skylar in her stomach then stood up straight again. Skylar cried out, but it turned into a controlled grunt as she kept it together. she spit blood at maze, it sprayed over her shoes and shins, but she just smiled and shook her head.

"people do that like it's going to do anything besides make it worse," she slammed her foot down on top of the blade. Handel and all went down into Skylar. 

now she really screamed and after a second she caught her breath a few times. her entire body jerked with her staggered breaths as she went into shock and passed out or… died. I have no idea. She went completely still, so still, I didn't see how she wasn’t dead. my focus was returning and the volume of my cries were growing as the last blow was coming off of me.

"Sky-, Sky, Sky-," i just kept saying Sky, because I couldn't get her full name out. A full blown sob came out of me now. I screamed her full name, but she didn't move, "Skylar! I'm sorry!”

I screamed it over and over as I was thrown over a large man’s shoulder and they all rushed down the stairs together. I reached out for her as I kept screaming her name like if i just reached hard enough and wanted it bad enough, I could somehow get to her. I started beating on the man's back who was carrying me and kicking my legs. My hands just hit his back harmlessly. I bounced painfully on his shoulder as he continued down the stairs. We made it outside and then it started to hit me that I was in trouble too. I was so caught up with the possibility of Skylar dying I hadn't even thought about what was going to happen to me. Johnny could be waiting for me in the car for all I knew, or what if he was ever we were going? I had leaned up on him as much as I could to look behind me at the black car.

“No!” I fought and kicked harder, “no! Let me go! I can’t go back! Please don’t take me back! I won't! I can’t!”

He flipped me off his shoulder to stand me up, then pushed my head down into the car while he shoved the rest of my body. I knew this was my last chance. I spread my limbs to locked them in place to try and hold me outside the car. I gripped it so hard I broke a nail.

“help! Someone help! Fire! Fire! Help!” I yelled as loud as I could and he yanked on my arms to try and get me inside.

“What happened Anna? You said you would go,” Mazikeen was laughing as she went for the passenger seat,” don’t you miss Johnny? I assure you, he really misses you.”

That just sent me into even more panic, but it didn’t matter because he reared back and shoved me into the car. I hit the edge of the seat to roll into the floorboard. He jumped in the seat above me and grabbed both of my ankles to bend my legs into the car. The door closed and I started crawling forward to get away from him. Tires screeched loudly against the road as we took off. I could barely move for a moment as the momentum pinned me to the edge of the seat. I sat up on the floorboard to reach for the car handle, knowing it would be locked and it was. I had to try though. I used it to pull myself up and turned around to face the man I was trapped in the back seat with. I stayed on the ground, happy to stay down. maze turned around in the front seat to take out a knife and a flashlight. she also turned on the overhead light.

“Get in the seat,” she told me. Normally maze only had to tell me something once, but I was frozen with fear, “Anna, do as I say!”

I pulled myself up quickly to sit in the seat with my back to the door so I could keep a good eye on the guy next to me, who was now eyeballing me hard. she crawled halfway in the back as she tugged on my clothes roughly to pull me to her and looked me over. she patted me down, turning out my jamie pockets and even squeezing my breast, butt and feeling between my legs to make sure I had nothing on me. she stopped at my bracelet and tried to cut it off when she couldn't unfasten it. she had to take out another, more durable knife and work at the metal cord underneath for a second. she threw it out the window when it finally snapped.

"I take it by your expression that was a good move on my part," she laughed and turned to the road to sit forward.

I looked at the man next to me, my eyes were wide with terror. I grabbed the back of the seat with one hand and the door behind me with the other as I tried to dig my way into the door. I glanced over my shoulder. The windows were so dark I could never flag anyone down. He began to inch towards me, trying to seem casual. we were driving more smoothly now, but still very fast. She seemed confident now that the bracelet was gone and leaned her seat back a little to put her feet up on the dashboard. I glanced at the man who was watching me intensely and then back to maze. He was a dark skinned large black man. His lips were big threw his mask as he pressed them together in thought. as he made his way towards me more I scrunched up my legs to me as much as possible and put my arms around them. his hand traced over the top of the suede seat to my ankle. When fingertips made contact, he smiled at me. I shook my head to make it clear the feeling wasn't mutual. his smile grew as this excited him and his hand curled around my ankle to drag me to him.

"maze" I yelled for her to make him stop.

Johnny would never stand for such a thing, he had made it clear to her that no man was ever to touch me or even look at me. She lit a cigarette and cracked the window. I felt him come on top of me, his wool mask pressed on my cheek as he was in my neck. He put his arm under me and lifted me to him so air came out of me in a whoosh. my back arched as he bent me awkwardly to accommodate his wants in the cramped back seat. He grunted satisfied in my ear, but all I saw was the back of the maze's head. I squeezed my eyes shut when he nibbled on my neck. my legs were folded off to the side towards the front seat. I felt his hand come between my knees to start separating them as his other hand pushed up my stomach under my shirt.

"mazikeen please!" I choked out.

"hey!" mazikeen spun to face us, a gun in one hand. she racked the bullet with her finger on the trigger and slapped him over the head with her free hand, "You're here to do a job so put your dick away. besides, I don't want the bitch screaming in my ear!"

"Damn maze, did you have to hit me?" he sounded like a hurt child after a spanking, almost innocent.

He rubbed his head like she had actually hurt him as I lifted my butt to pull my bottoms back up the few inches he’d pulled them down.

"we're almost there," she rolled her eyes and face forward again “you better be glad Anna. I almost want to let him hurt you for all the shit you’ve put me through, but it’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

"So what's the deal? what we gon do?" he said absentmindedly as he rubbed his crotch like he was uncomfortable.

He was still over me, his hand beside my head as he looked me over really hard. I was crying quietly now, happy that things have settled a bit. I just tried to take deep breaths, trying to stay as calm as possible as I started trying to squirm out from under him. He smiled mockingly, kissed the air at me then slowly reached for my face. I yelped and looked away, putting a hand up so he huffed and took it away.

"Johnny just wants Anna back, but this new guy seems to have an ulterior motive," maze answered. fear flooded threw me, i was about to see johnny.

"I thought Johnny was in the pound and this new guy, any word on him?" he started tugging on my clothes, not hard enough to keep me from getting out from under him. He was just toying with me, a playful smile on his lips as he licked them.

"he is. swears he's gonna get out soon. The new guy is a real ghost. goes by white. no one’s ever heard of him. He comes through saying he can help johnny by getting his men under control with his own guys, that he could do what I couldn't. I was skeptical, everything went to shit. johnny made it easy," she scoffed.

he reached for me again and I pushed his hand away. He cocked his head to the side and his playful smile widened at me. He was really enjoying even this, just being able to make me cringe.

"Yeah. you still did a pretty good job up until Batfuck started busting shipments," he said absentmindedly.

I retreated into the door again to bring my knees up and put my arms around them. I quickly cleared the tears from my vision so I could wrap my hands back around my knees.

"whatever. he said all Johnny had to do was promise to combine operations when he got out."

"but he ain't gettin out. isn't that right Anna?" he smiled darkly at me and nudged my knee.

"no, besides, johnny isn't about to do that. You know how greedy he is. white tightened up Johnny's empire even though there wasn't hardly nothing left and what was left batman mopped up. Once he was arrested they got a warrant for the tower and police got involved too. now that is coming back together, everyone wants a taste."

"Yeah, Johnny got the best powder and meth cook. Love the blue meth. He was smart to keep them to himself. what's in it for the new guy?" he chuckles.

"the oldest reason in the book, money. When Johnny gets out and they join, they’ll be huge. white has strings in Gotham, like i've never seen. Johnny is too crazed right now to see it, but this white guy already has control of everything. Johnny doesn't have an empire anymore. I think white just lettin him think he does,"

"why?" he asked with a question on his face.

"I don't know," she said frustrated now, "I know I am making twice as much as before and white told me he valued my skills so I have a permanent place. plus the guy is smart and careful like johnny used to be, so here I am. I can't wait to see how this plays out. something big is coming, I can feel it."

"what about the bat?" him saying his name sent a rush of hopeful excitement through me. He looked at me sharply and scowled confused.

"what about him?" she chuckled, “he's still trying to keep it suppressed, but like i said White has deep strings and pockets. Every shipment he busts, White just starts two more.

What does all this mean? Johnny was still in jail, but this white guy was running things now? if he was running things and carefully. why would he draw attention to themselves by letting johny pull this? I mean that was a lot of commotion. did white know about me and wants me for himself?

Was he just buying his time until he was sure he had a good grip of things before he took Johnny out of the picture? What did that mean for me if or when that happened? what was about to happen to me now? we were stopping. she got out with the female driver. He reached to grab me and I tried to push his hands away again.

“Don’t touch me! No!” I yelled at him to start kicking and slapping at him again frantically.

He grabbed me by my hair and drugged me out. I screamed as hair was pulled out of my scalp. He didn’t even try to give me a chance to go with it, just jerked me so that I flipped forward onto my stomach to pull me out of the car. I tried to keep up so that it wasn’t so painful, but it happened too fast. I came out of the car face first into the concrete when he let go. I tried to stand and run, but didn’t get but a few inches off the ground before he grabbed the top of my arm. The circulation was cut off instantly as he followed them into the building. It was a run down part of Gotham that was very bare. There were no commercial buildings, like this were all factories and warehouses. No billboards or stores, just brick and concrete everywhere. I had no idea where we were.

He tugged me along, jerking me to quicken my pace making me constantly trip and really hurting my arm. I would have fallen, only he held me up with one hand. Would he get the chance he wanted once we were inside? Would there be other men who would try me? Was the White guy waiting for me? We went into the building, but this one was way more run down than all the others. it was abandoned. There wasn’t even power or so I thought until we got into an elevator. it was the kind you had to close the gate in front of you and if you managed to get your finger far enough thro the holes of the gate, you might lose it. The driver closed it and pushed the down button after she took her mask off. the elevator rattle and groaned in protest as we began our descent.

"don't fuck with her again. there's only four of y’all and seven of us and we have guns," Mazikeen ordered and turned to put her finger in his face. her eyes were full of warning. She went to turn back forward but halted when he protested.

"com'on ma-," he started, but maze pulled a knife from somewhere, i have no idea where she got them.

She was currently wearing a revealing dark purple leather vest that showed off her cleavage and midsection, with low riding black leather skinny pants. Her boots had just a bit of a heel, and her choker was thick black leather as well. I mean she had knife holders on her thighs, ankles and other places, but I never saw here reach for one.

"I’m in fucking charge!" and sliced him up the face. The cut went through his eyebrow and cheek, but not deep enough to cut his eye.

he roared, but mazikeen was dipping to the ground to grab his ankle. she pulled it towards her as she jumped up. his head rattling the cage to the elevator as he slid down the back of it. her foot crushed into his windpipe, pushing his head almost at a right angle against the cage.

"I could have taken your eye Darnell, remember that. I don’t care who you work for, try me again and I’ll kill you. White wouldn’t give two shits about you because he values me more than you," she took her foot away and he choked on some air for a minute, then looked at us.

I had backed into the corner opposite them with my arms out to clutch at the cage around me. the driver had grabbed my arm to ensure i didn’t try something, but i wasn’t that stupid with maze so close to me.

"don't look at me," the other woman spoke for the first time in a laugh, "your cock is gonna get you fucked up in the game."

she was a big white girl with bleach blond hair. she was a manly looking woman and her hair being pulled back into a ponytail didn't help her boyish features. Neither did her cake face which was complete with too much eye make up as well. She was also really tan and kinda buff for a girl, but like too tan. The kind of tan with her hair being that type of white bleach blond made her look orange almost. Darnell got up putting his shirt to his eye. we rode in silence for a little longer before we reached our level. it felt like we were at the bottom, though of course I couldn't be sure. we came into a big open room. There were four pillars in the room to support the ceiling, and doors in random locations in the walls. a few fold out tables were here and there with laptops and what looked like packaged drugs, maybe cocaine. there were a few people around doing things, more women than men. When we exited the elevator everyone glaced at us, but only for a moment before turning back to their work.

I jumped when two women with huge assault rifles were standing on both sides of the elevator. We went to the right and down a hallway. everything here including the floor looked like basic concrete. There were thick pipes on the walls and loud noises around us. All the doors and hallways we passed had large numbers with a letter painted on them in different colors to coordinate getting around in what looked like a huge underground complex of some kind. we went through a door and she closed and locked it in the one called darnell's face, to my relief. He tried to say something, but maze just ignored him. We went through another room to come to a stop in a room with no other exits. The blond shoved me down in a chair that was in the middle of the room, there were two chairs facing it. The room was almost completely bare besides a single long commercial sink, all metal with two spouts and a metal rack between them. There was also one of the crates from the other room and a tall wooden worn out looking cabinet with a lock on it. I begin to panic harder, but for a different reason. It looked like this was an interrogation room.

"ma-," I began

"hush anna," she snapped and I knew better than to talk back to maze.

she was getting something out of the cabinet behind me. the blond was tying each of my forearms to the chair individually by putting rope over the entire length of my arm and mazikeen was coming in front. She put down a small fold out table and a laptop down as she opened the laptop to wake it up. she pulled up a window that was already open. a little corner window popped up that had the blond and I in it. the one that was supposed to be able to let me see the other person was blank. my eyes got wide at all the possibilities, and she smiled. I just shook my head frantic at her and she nodded in response as she came towards me slowly. I leaned away from her. 

"you getting me?" she turned a sec to look at the camera then turned back to me, "golden. someone wants to watch this bit, but all of this is gonna be our secret. can you keep a secret?"

I nodded frantic at her, knowing it wasn’t an option. the blond went down to tie my ankles to each leg now.

"good. you can't tell Johnny if or when you see him again or anyone else. you know what I'll do to you?" she asked as she had her hands on her knees to lean down in my face.

I nodded again. I knew what she would do. any number of things that wouldn't leave a mark, but would make me wish I could just take a beating. the back of my chair was jerked back abruptly so that I jumped. It drug against the cracked concrete loudly as i was turned sideways to the camera to face the sink, making me yelp. I heard something slide under the back of the chair as it was braced against it. I lifted my head to look at maze and she was filling up a small clear plastic pitcher with water.

"no, mazikeen!" I screamed when I realized what was happening. she was about to water board me. she had threatened it before, but johny never let her, "please just what do you want?"

I pleaded with her quietly now and tilted my head back to look at the blond. She was holding the chair in place to make sure I didn't dislodge it when I fought. The ground here was rougher so it wouldn't have mattered much. I lifted my head off the back of the chair to look back at maze, then the camera, then back to the blond and then maze again and the camera. I just went in a circles frankic shaking my head at them.

“Please no maze, please! Noooo!” I started tugging against the ropes that held me in place and tears started filling my eyes, “what do you want! Just tell me what you want! I’ll do it! I’ll tell you anything you want to know!”

"he says i get to do a around to soften you up first, so that's what I want to do." she said humorously.

I looked back to her again and she was turning the water off. this was about to happen. there was no amount of begging or persuasion that could stop it. I took a few deep breaths trying to oxygenate my blood, but my panicked body was already at a loss for air. Plus I was hyperventilating, so it wasn’t going so well. darkness came over my face as a dark red towel redden my vision. The blonde held the towel far back so that my head was forced backwards behind the back of a chair. I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to fill my lungs one more time, but was already cut off by water. water was pulled thro filling my mouth with bubbles from it coming thro the cloth, coating my throat and sending me gagging. I locked my diaphragm in place to try to stop the chokes, every one forcing more water down my throat. I couldn't hold it though. water was already coating past my collar bone, I could feel it. I had to get it out. reflexively coughing pushed the towl up off my mouth only to be sucked back down by my gasps for air, more water. I couldn't take much more. how much more could be in that pitcher? I heard laughter and the water stopped as the cloth was removed.

"let her breath a sec," maze laughed more, i heard the faucet running again "never waterboarded anyone?"

I heaved and choked as I tried to push the remaining bit of water out. I turned my head away from the camera so I could catch my breath with some privacy. My throat was on fire and I was already feeling like I would throw up.

"maze..." I said thro my gaggs. they continued speaking like i hadn't said anything.

"no," she answers mazikeen.

"you gotta be careful. use too much water for too long and you’ll cause damage to their brain or lungs. you could also dry drown them. people think you need a lot of water, you don't," I heard her chuckle, "people can break bones struggling, but we aren't gonna have to push her hard though. Trust me, she’ll talk, isn’t that right Anna? You already told me you would do or tell me anything.”

"Yes!!!” I nodded frantically at her as I kept coughing.

"I want you to tell our friend in the camra about your gift," she said gift sarcastically as she gestured to the camera.

"i i," I coughed more, "i- I can't control it, but" I stop to pant, "i can influence men around me to be attracted to me..." I had to pause again to breath, "in some way. mostly sexual, but all different stuff." I hoped that pacified them.

"give him more," she said in a warning.

"what else d-" and she nodded at the one behind me. the towel came over my face again. water saturated it and I held my breath as long as I could.

"You gotta breathe some time Anna," she mocked loudly over the rush of water.

I ran out of air and reflexively gasphed for it. water went down my throat and this time the desperation to escape was too much. I couldn't handle it any more and I contracted every muscle I had to break free. my back arch up and down and my shoulders and elbows heaved with vain effort to free my hands. I couldn't even feel the skin that the rope was probably tearing. There was too much else to demand my full attention. the cloth was removed and I gushed down air greedy, only causing more choking. I saw the lights above me and looked around. The blond was still behind me looking at maze. she was filling the small pitcher again. My body heavied up off the chair in one huge gasph so hard even my butt came off it before it collapsed back onto it in another choking fit.

"maze!" I screamed now, "maze please stop! please stop!"

I couldn't, I just couldn't. she didn't look at me and I threw my head against the back of the chair. still coughing and gagging making my stomach cramp.

"the only thing that should be coming out of your mouth are explanations," she said dryly. I jerked my head back up at her.

"I know ey-," I began, but she cut me off sharply.

"no, tell him," she pointed to the laptop with a threat in her face, "you better get with the program."

I looked at the computer choking more.

"I know physical contact makes it worse, but my emotions are the biggest thing. every man is affected in some way, even if it's too small to notice. it depends on the person and distance how they are affected. Extreme personalities are affected the most," I had to stop a lot to catch my breath and spoke in a rushed pace to satisfy them.

"what kind of stuff has it made guys do?" she directed me.

"uh," I squeezed my eyes shut for a second to focus through the bad memories. I felt the blond shift behind me. thinking she was about to put the cloth over me my eyes flew open and I talked too fast making my words come together, "killattacktryto-"

"Whoa! slow down, can't understand you. He said to take a sec, as long as you are being good," she chuckled.

I just looked at the camera with my shaky head and my hands stretched out of the back of the chair. I couldn't understand what this guy was thinking. Who could do something like this to someone? I sincerely don’t understand how you can torchure another human being let alone even an animal. I took a moment and put my head against the back of the chair to take large breaths, trying not to cough on them. then looked back, after only around twelve seconds. I didn't want to push it.

"I've had people attack with intent to kill, be obsessive and stalk me to kidnap, or even just be too nice. The most common one is inappropriate in some way. groping or comments," I gave, "It's rare that there is another reaction besides being inappropriate."

I peeked a mazikeen and her expression looked disarmed… disturbed. I had never seen her face like that. maybe it was something the guy had said. She even blinked hard a few times and then shook her head sharply to force herself to focus.

"what are the limits?" she said after listening to her earpiece for a sec.

"I- I-," I turned away from the computer for a second and started crying for a breath or too. if i didn't satisfy them, i would get hit with the water again so I faced the camera, “I don’t know,” I shake my head, crying at whoever it was hoping they saw I was being honest, “ever since puberty, it’s just snowballed out of control.”

I shut my eyes for a moment just to cry, shaking my head at how much that scared me. My voice was so horse and cracky. it kept breaking when i was trying to speak causing even more coughs. I looked into the camera like it was a person now.

"He wants to know if you're a virgin anna," she practically swooned down to get on my level, keeping me between the camera and her. her voice was tender now and I started crying a lot harder as I pressed my knees together, shaking my head. mazikeen laughed.

"I guess that's your answer," Maze was still laughing and gripped my crotch for a second then stood up, "what's wrong anna? all these suitors and you never found a cock worth opening your legs for? you don't know what you're missing girl. ya know, Johnny and I fucked lots of times. He’s a decent lay, you should have just taken the dick." 

the blonde laughed with her now too. I turned away from her to shake my head and cry more.

"He asked if you like being a virgin?... answer him!" she snapped.

"yes!" my head flew forward to see her over me again. I was crying harder now, "i do-"

the cloth came over my face and water was sucked down my throat instantly. my windpipe was already so scorched and I couldn't stop coughing and gagging. There was no amount of self control I possessed to try and limit the amount of gagging or how fast I sucked it in. I truly felt like I was drowning and never felt more helpless. all I could do was wait for the pitcher to run out. The cloth was removed as I was given air.

"look at him!" she was still over me, her face angry and her lips curled up over her teeth some, “it’s fucking easy Anna! You answer him, not me!”

"yes! I've never had to or wanted to!" I had faced the camera again, hoping it was over. I didn't know what else they could want to know.

“But there was Johnny, then Savage and finally Taylor and Bradley,” Maze pushed, “three separate occasions and you’re still a virgin?”

“All three Batman showed up just in time,” I sniffled at the camera, smiling a little.

“So just to be crystal clear, when you say you’re a virgin, you don’t mean consentual sex, you mean, you’ve never been penatrated?”

“no,” I closed my eyes to cry a few times at how I might not be a virgine much longer.

“What have you done with a man?”

“Nothing I’ve wanted, but st-, still nothing really be- besides th- them feeling me over. Ne- never got my underwear off,” I say to the camera, breaking into a sob as I squeeze my eyes shut.

“So it’s safe to say you wouldn’t know what to do with a dick if you got one?” Maze mocked.

“I know nothing of sex still Mazeikeen,” I glance at her for a moment before looking back to the camera, “it doesn’t matter I have the freedom to learn or do things of this nature away from him…” I shake my head as I whisper in a cracking, harsh voice, “I have no interest in something that makes me so uncomfortable.”

“He says, so you really do like being a virgin?” she breaks into laughter with the blond.

I just nod now, shaking so hard the chair is clinking.

"did batman give you that bracelet?"

"yes," I gasped and nodded at the camera, eyes almost bulging out of my head with fear, 

"and is that how he knew how to find you the second and third time?" where were they getting this? I dare not look away from the camera to gauge her expression.

"yes," I cried a little harder, praying it wasn't going to go further into this topic

“The girl I let keep my knife, I'm guessing Batman sent her too?”

“Yes,” I answered to my shame like a well trained dog.

“Does she work for him?” she continued.

“I don’t know!” I yelled at the camera, “I’m sorry! All I know is they know each other!”

“He says he knows you're telling the truth,” maze listen for a second, “did you ask for him or was she just sent for you?”

“He sent her,” I panted, “I never wanted a bodyguard. I tried to tell him I didn't want her," I shut my eyes to cry more, shaking my head, "I- I- I knew she'd get hurt… get killed!"

“Has Batman ever seen you without it being necessary?” she asked.

“He came by one night to check on me,” I sniffled in a whisper, “that’s all.”

“What did you do with him?”

“Nothing,” I started crying harder, “he just said he wanted to check on me, that’s all. We talked for a second and he left.”

“Do you think Batman has the hots for you?”

“no!” I shouted at the camera, shaking my head with huge eyes of shock they’d even go there, “sometimes I wonder, but I don’t think so!”

“He says it’s okay my Anna,” she chuckled and shook her head, “that he will always know when you’re lying or not, so don’t panic over nothing. Have yall fucked?”

“No!” I yelp that out quickly.

“Says he knows already you’re a virgin, just wanted to see your reaction. What about touching? Has ate you or have you blown him?”

“I- I don’t know what that means!” I started crying again, “I’m sorry!”

“You don’t know what it means when someone says ate a girl or blow a guy?” Mazeikeen had her eyebrows together at me like I was the biggest loser. The Blond laughed a few times.

“Not ate, no,” I shook my head at the camera.

“He wants me to tell you ‘eat a bitch means you suck and lick on her pussy,” Maze said, “has Batman ever ate your pussy Anna?”

“No,” I told them.

“You blow Batman?” she pressed.

“No,” I glanced around really uncomfortable with what we were talking about, then looked at the camera confused why they were asking questions I’ve answered in other ways already.

“Anything else sexual? Like even kissing?”

“No,” I said again.

“Do you want to?” Maze got into my face to give me a mocking smile.

“We aren’t like that and I told y’all all of this already in other ways from other questions!” I struggle against my restraints again, “why does it matter?!”

“Because he wants to fuck with you!” Maze slapped me across the face and took my jaw to make me look at the camera again, “so you don’t care about him that way?”

“I- I-” I began to stutter as I wasn’t sure.

“Yes or no!” she screamed into my face.

“NNNOOOOO!” I wailed and squeezed my eyes shut, “All men do is hurt me! Almost every man I’ve come across has done something to me at some point! How can I?!”

“It sounds like you do or want to,” Mazikeen nodded at me with a tensing smile, “Johnny will be so heartbroken Anna.”

“But I haven’t done anything,” I shut my eyes to cry in the most pathetic maner, my cries of the most broken kind, “with anyone… I- I don’t want to be with anyone. I just want to be left alone! I don’t want to be with Johnny or Batman.”

“Do you know his name or have any ideas?” she asks.

“No,” I chuckled a few times, a few more cries coming out in relief.

“Are you sure she’s telling the truth?” Maze scowled, then moved on, "you were gone for a few days after the last incident, but we couldn't find you anywhere. where were you?”

I know I'd said I would tell her anything, but now that she was asking this question, I didn’t see how it was possible for me to tell her. I opened my mouth to speak, but I hesitated into a stutter and she cut me off.

"where you with batman?" when i didn't answer, she kicked the chair with her foot, "anna we are about to hit you again,"

"no!" I dare not look away from the camera, but I shook my head fiercely. I was a horrible liar and I didn't want to get punished for looking away from it either.

"no to being water boarded again," she had to stop to laugh for a minute and the blonde laughed with her, "or no to being with batman?"

"No, I wasn't with batman!" I screamed in fear at what I knew would happen.

the cloth wrapped around the side of my face as the blond held it in place, the water came down with the same basic effect. I turned my head forward reflexively as my torso came up and down some with my heaves as I choked. I just had to get through this. they would want to know where we were and I couldn't give that up, not after everything he had done for me. As I fought to keep fighting, to keep my determination in not betraying him, i complemented why I would rather possibly drown than tell them what little bit I knew.

I may not be in any real danger of drowning, but I tell you, I am drowning. I mean, he’s The batman. he would be okay, right? no! that's not the point! he had given me freedom, a choice. where others would have used his opportunities to their twisted advantage, he did not. the pitcher was empty and the cloth was removed. maze stood over me still as I refocused on her. she had leaned back some as my first few coughs really spit out some water. I moaned and shook my head back and forth hard like a mad man as my groans grew into a crazed scream at the impossibility of this. I couldn’t talk, but I couldn't take this. 

"help!" I gave it everything I had now. My cries for help were so hard my body came out of the seat, "help me! please anyone! pleeeaaase! Helllp..."

my crying halted me for a second and I heard laughter echoing off the bare room. my cries for help where so loud it hurt my ears.

"no one can hear you Anna! So you were with batman. God you're such a bad liar," and now she laughed so hard she had to wipe tears away.

I looked at her wide eyed and truly scared for my life now. I wasn't sure how much more I could take.

“What love birds,” she sighed fakely and stood straight over as my cries kept coming, “I guess you were right. Bats does have a girlfriend.”

“I’m not his girlfriend,” I shook my head back and forth slowly in denial at everything that was happening, “we don’t flirt, we don’t hang out, we don’t do any of the things couples do. The only time I’ve seen him is when he’s helped me and the one time he came to see me.”

“Oh Anna,” Maziekeen held her forehead as she shook it like she felt bad I was so naive, “he’s Batman. He’s taken an interest in you and if you want to take it as far as White’s suggesting, You're already his girl whether you want to be or not, you just don’t know it yet.”

“I don’t understand,” I whimpered.

“You wouldn’t,” she stopped to listen for a second, “he wants me to tell you, "y’all are dating, but you don’t realize it because you're holding yalls relationship to the standard of normal people. The things you're describing and with what he already knows about Batman means you're dating or might as well be.”

“No we aren’t!” I looked back to the camera to tell him with as much conviction as I could.

"He said we'll see,” Mazeikeen laughed at him, “I agree with him Anna. the Bats a fuckin freak. He only sees people to talk about cases so if he came to check on you and you were at one of his cribs, it’s because he wants the V, especially since you’re a seductress.”

“He’s just a good guy,” I shut my eyes to start crying, “he’s just a good guy.”

“White says, ‘No he’s not,” Mazikeen snickered at me, “he’s a fucking asshole, a sociopaths who will manipulate and take advantage. You won’t be a virgin for long because if I don’t take your virginity, Batman will and I’m surprised he hasn’t taken it sooner. you just think he is because you fail to see the bigger picture. By the time all of this is over, you won’t see him as only a good guy anymore.”

“He’s the good guy,” I closed my eyes to whisper to myself, “he’s the good guy…”

“anyway, so where were y'all then?" when I shook my head at her she shook her head right back at me, "all right that was funny so we'll ask you again. where were you?"

"I don't know!" the cloth came over me again.

I had to stay strong for him. The only thing that brought me any relief was to picture him. His eyes that held more discipline than anyone could be capable of possessing. eyes that saw right through me, all my lies and fears. that would do anything to save me or anyone else. He would do this to protect me, my secrets. He would, right?

_"Your life is as valuable as anyone else's and I will take precautions to protect it," his voice was final, but still soft in it’s authority._

_I had never heard it sound so passionate. I might be able to still decline the offer, but he wouldn't do nothing. on some levels it frightened me and on others it thrilled me._

_"I would never ignore your suffering. I will always fight under any circumstances to help you Annabella, to my last breath. never doubt this," he said this low, but with such conviction i expected it without hesitation with a few nods._

the two memories in my head gave me enough to push through the last few seconds.... I screamed loudly and my back arched up and down trying to get the water out of me, but mostly just from the trauma of it all. I felt like I was losing my mind, like i mentally could not survive this anymore. I got a few gagging breaths in and heard more water pouring into the pitcher. she stood over me for a second to let me breath. I just looked at her and the camera waiting for her to speak, but she said nothing. the cloth was returned.

as water went into my windpipe again I shook my head from side to side violently to try and dislodge it. My toes and fingers curled hard enough they cramped. I was desperate to dislodge the cloth, I had to get it off of me no matter the outcome. I was finally beginning to feel my restraints on my arms now. They were on fire, but it made no difference. I would rip them off if it meant I could use the stump to get the cloth off of me. My shoulders ache at the effort to free myself. just give them what they want! No!

_"because when I look at you I don't see you as the girl in the video. your not who he tried to force you to be," his voice had gotten soft._

_I started up at him now through my thick tears that finally won me over as they spilled down my cheek. his eyes were tender and his head was inclined towards me some, even his lips were slightly parted at me. his words were so heavy with his conviction, that it gave me comfort. I clamored at it._

_"what do you see?" I asked in a desperate whisper._

_"a woman who's scared and trying to hide from herself," he responded without hesitation._

_that wasn't fair, but it was the truth. I felt my cheeks flush and my chest burn in a way I had never experienced before. it made me feel awkward and self-conscious. I shifted my weight on top of my bucket._

he saw right through me from the beginning. saw how scared I was and how I was even scared of myself and him, but he still offered to help. to check on me, to risk me knowing his secrets which I now had the power to betray. the very thing he has been stressing to me this entire time is happening. He knew something like this could happen and he still trusted me.

The towel came off and after a few gags and coughs I closed my eyes. I was on the verge of passing out when someone slapped the side of my face a few times to stir me.

"help please," I asked in a weak, low scratchy voice.

"the first was for not speaking to him, the second was for lying. where were y'all?" she slapped my face again.

"help!" I screamed while I still had the chance. I would say no more and therefore I had to take the opportunity to do the only thing I could, "help me! Anyo-"

the cloth came over my face again and water saturated it. How much was his trust worth? if I betrayed him would he forgive me? would he not let me in any more? even the little bit that he had? what would he think of me? I already played the part of the pathetic damsel in distress well enough to annoy anyone. how much weaker would i look to him after this? would he share anything else with me?

_"the contacts are for private images. The color is to help protect my identity. if I am too tired I have to remove them," he answered my question from earlier._

_I lit up, thrilled he trusted me enough with this information. Now he looked almost… distrustful. his posture was a little stiffer than usual, but perfect as always._

_"you can trust me ya know," I smiled a little timidly, then put my head down reflexively._

_I peeked at him and he was focused on me now, but not in the same way as before. He looked almost like he was looking for something…_

The flashbacks were so intense that the only thing that kept me in the room was drowning. I told him he could trust me and I was having to fight to keep that from being a lie. He had shared it with me even though he knew this could happen… that I could be tortured for information. information that could bring people down where he has a magnitude of technology, tech that could have a magnitude of data… this proved how valuable this trust was. I could not betray it.

I continued to try to kick and scream through the water and proceed to pull it in my mouth. my head throbbed and my arms kept burning and i kept pulling them, but i had to... I had to get free. I have to, I can't stay here, I can't stay like this... I... need… air......... the cloth was taken off just as I reached the limit of what I felt like would drown me for sure. I took in a huge breath and gagged on it so hard every muscle contracted painfully, but i was weakening despite how much adrenaline pumped through me. I couldn't keep fighting and my whole body resisted every movement I attempted. even when i was allowed to breath I felt like I wasn't getting enough through my coughing and gagging.

"ooooh Anna. I gotta hand it to you, I would have taken you for a quick squealer. I've cracked what I thought were tougher people than you by the 1st round. just give us something anna, you really think he is worth it?" she kicked my chair again and gave me a second, "really think hard Anna." and I did.

_“Then why not just check it instead of wasting your time?”_

_“I'm not wasting my time," he said simply, “I wanted to see in person you’re okay. I hope that doesn’t make you uncomfortable.”_

_“Uh… no… it’s just a little surprising. You don't take me for the type to take a case so personally. Especially enough to check on someone.“_

_“You're not just a case,” he stated._

"got an answer?" maze broke my last flashback

"Yes," I responded in a hoarse voice and nodded.

"and what is your answer?"

"He's worth it," I closed my eyes hard and clenched my jaw for the next wave. This time I managed to lock up longer than I had the entire time, my body shaking as I tensed to keep it in. Eventually I was overwhelmed with gags and chokes again as I ran out of air and tried to breathe.

_"it's okay, shhh… just breathe with me bells," he was speaking so tenderly to me._

_This drew my eyebrows together and quieted my sobs. no one had ever called me that, nor did it seem in his character to use a nickname._

_"listen to my breathing, try and match it. it's just me and you now, okay?" His eyes were focused and intense into mine own._

_they held my attention like their own restraints. all my focus went deep into his eyes. I heard his breathing now, I hadn't noticed it before. He was strong and leveled. we just stared at each other for the longest time. the feeling coming out of his eyes, the feeling it gave me... I became so enthralled with his gaze that I had forgotten he was still ready to force my shoulder into the socket. We stared at each other, him focused and strong, me confused and amazed._

Another memory hit me right after the first as I continued struggling, remembering things like I had never remembered anything in my life. the only positive incorruptible force i had to draw on to get me through it.

_"I have you now, I got you. They can’t hurt you anymore,” he says._

_he cupped his gloved hand under and behind my ear with his thumb in front of it. the rest of his fingers he put behind it in my hair line. He pulled me into his lap to be able to hold me and I cried harder in relief and horror._

_"I've got you," he said low absentmindedly several times before we both quieted over time together._

This memory hit me harder than all the others because it was like I could feel him holding me, comforting me, telling me he had me and I would be okay, that I was safe and could relax. I wanted nothing more than that now, to be in his arms safe. All I wanted was for him to give me the same feeling as when he held me last time. That I was falling to pieces, but he was holding me together. I wanted nothing more in the world right now than him.

"batman! batman! im here!" as soon as the cloth was removed and I had the lung capacity to get it out, "hell help m- mee,"

I started crying harder, more like whaling like an animal. they went from low to high, to long and short bursts of crazed hollering. I truly sounded mad now as I kicked and jerked my body this way and that to try and vainly free myself.

"he wants me to tell you, ‘you say he's worth it, but you won't after we get done with you’," she said sarcastically.

"I always will! stop it! lemme go!" I ordered them all now.

I snapped my head up at her to practically throw the words out of my mouth like a weapon. my entire body tensed up for the phrase in aggression off the chair and I collapsed back against it. their words infuriated me, she knew nothing. it was the last of the energy I had. I was finished. The last effort I gave was to look at the camera. the expression I gave was one of defeat. not that i would talk, but that I was done fighting. they would have to kill me or at least keep this up a lot longer before I would crack.

"you will get a set of dry clothes and a bed if you just cooperate," she countered. she shifted her weight to stick her other hip out with her arms crossed, "really?"

my chair was tipped on all fours and I slumped forward hard on myself before I was even sure if it was over. I panted quietly with my head hung forward before me, only a few weak coughs coming out of me when my diaphragm contracted on its own. I just spit everything out in front of me that came out. my hands were numb and I could feel the pressure really getting bad. I noticed my ankles now, they were burning from the rope and the joints themselves were aching.

I heard a knife click in place and I just didn’t have the energy to care, despite knives being a trigger for me. my ankles were cut, then my wrist too. I fell out onto the concrete floor hard crying quietly now. not because I was scared, but because I was so happy it was over, at least for now. I only managed a few before i quieted. there was a drain in the floor so most of the water was gone, but being an old building and having an uneven floor, I was lying in one of the pools left over. I was so cold, only just now noticing how chilly it was down here. I curled up into a ball, my entire body aches with what it had just been put thro. Shaking violently, I closed my eyes to try and rest.

"Okay anna, you win for now," maze said while the blond put the pitcher in the cabinet with the rest of the rope, the small fold out table and the cloth. I heard her lock it and come back to the front of the room as her boots sloshed thro the shallow water, "we‘ll have another round in an hour or two. he says he wants to give you time to think.”

They left and I heard a lock slide in place. more laughter echoed off the walls as they retreated. I pulled myself into a tighter ball to try and get warmer. It was so cold down here that I didn’t see how I could sleep. I knew I needed to try and escape, but I had nothing left right now.

_"Everything's okay bells, tint: 80%," he soothed me, feeling and seeing the growing panic. the lights went down all around us. He reached over me and got a blanket to cover me up. He took my hand in both of his to rub the top of it gently, "you’re completely safe. I‘ll be right here, I promise. just rest."_

_I looked at him in his eyes, my own wide and still so confused. I couldn't bear to close them. After a few seconds he put his fingers at the top of my head and lightly traced them down my face, slowing down a bit over my eyes each time. The action made me refexabley close them. The repeated this a few times to my frustration, each time becoming more difficult to force them back open over this weight._

_I managed to shoot him a frustrated glare. then he held his fingers so that they were right over my eyes now. This kept them closed for good and I began to float again. The last thing I was aware of was his hand pulling away slowly and him getting off the bed. darkness drug me under._

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

_an explosion… somewhere. metal hitting metal… it hurts my ears._

_"Annabella!" water splashing, that voice, that voice... I know that voice._

_I can't place it yet and hands come under me to lift me, supporting my limp head. my arms on the other hands hang and bounce awkwardly while i am moved around into someones hard arms. wow, this guy was buff… and hard… like metal hard. I feel a gloved hand on my face._

_"Annabella. answer me!" The voice was so panicked, I had to comply, but that means waking up…_

_"Bells!" the man holding me jerked me a little to try and rouse me._

All I managed was a groan. whoa my throat hurts, and my arms... I opened my eyes to see him over me. Now they fly open and I sit straight up in his arms, almost falling out of them. He set me down and held me in place as I started pushing my feet against the ground to get away from him hard enough the water in the ground splashes into the air.

“Annabella, it’s me!” he tried to get me to recognize that it was him, but I was in sheer panic.

"what happened? I'm so cold and my throat, my arms? where am i? Why am I’m wet?" I rushed to get as many questions out to get as many answers as I could at once.

I looked myself over, I was soaking wet and freezing. I had on one of my sleeping t-shirts and my fuzzy bunny pants with no socks or bra.

"you don't remember?" his eyes got more concerned and then it hit me, everything.

I felt him shift next to me. It sent me backwards so that my head hit the concrete ground. I brought up my knees over my stomach and cradled my head between my arms tp shrieked. I saw the light through my eyes darken some as he came over me.

“I don’t know anything!” I felt a hand on my arm and slapped it away as hard as I could, screaming widely and weeping “nooooo! I won't talk! I won't! You can’t make me!”

"it's okay! It’s me!" he yelled over me, finally breaking through my confusion, "I'm right here Annabelle, it's okay. no one's gonna hurt you. I got you now."

I peeked at him through my arms. he did have me now. I reached out for him coming up to throw myself into the hug I needed. He did not hesitate like the last two times. He met me so that I was barely off the ground. his arms wrapped all the way around me hard and I gripped his body through his cape. it hardened, like a flexible metal under the pressure and I sobbed into him like I never had before. I re gripped my arms and hands around him over and over, trying to pull him into me. if he could absorb me into his body it still wouldn't be enough.

"I'm so sorry bells," he rocked me back and forth, "so sorry."

he sounded so much more emotional than he normally did. he drew back from me to cup his hand on the side of my face and kissed my forehead then picked me up to start out of the room

"the - they know we were together... I told them..." I turned away from him in shame as I kept coughing, "I'm sorry."

"sssshhhhh," he tried to pacify me. I saw the door frame pass over us, "let me worry about that."

"i- I told them about the brac-," I stopped when I felt him halt and take a knee. the raised one under my back and held me up.

"You could have told them anything. I’ll never be angry about something like that. When I choose to share things with you, I know the risks. I told you from the beginning, you're never under any obligation to protect my secrets."

he brought my limp form to him, but not towards his chest this time, more towards his face. I didn’t have time to react as he pressed me into him. His lips came against my jawline. not to kiss me, just hold it there with the rest of his face against mine. his warm skin was a sharp contrast to the colder top half of his mask. this gesture wasn't weird or didn't come off as inappropriate. it was as simple as it seemed. someone making skin contact to help both parties feel more connected and be able to comfort each other better.

"I found you, and you're safe, that’s all that matters," he said muffled against my jaw and took a deep breath.

his breath came over my face, hot and smelling… clean. we sat for a few moments before I was able to see past that room and his bare face on mine.

"Skylar," I said low. He didn't seem to react and was just holding his face to mine.

"Skylar!" I screamed now and jerked around. He pulled back startled.

"she's okay!" but I was losing it. I was relieved to hear she was okay, but she still had a knife stomped into her, hilt and all, "she’s in surgery now."

but my panic was still growing to an inconsolable rate. I had betrayed him, and gotten maven almost killed. Was there any limit to how many people I could hurt? My feet dug into the ground and I pushed against his embrace with one hand and the other wailed around in the air all around me, I have no space.

"Annabella!" he raised his voice a little to try and get through to me. He stayed where he was and put his hands up, eyes wary now.

"Can't breathe," I heaved between chokes. my abdominal muscles were cramping and my head pounded me backwards. the more I hyperventilated the more I choked, throwing me into coughing fits, "it's me! It's me!" I said it over and over, "it's me!"

I hit the wall, the pipes lining it cracking against my head. I just crained my head under them sideways to grip the underside of them. I kept pushing my feet into the ground despite the fact that I had created enough space for myself as possible. He watched me with his hands up, giving me a moment and respecting that I wanted space.

"bells..." and now he stopped speaking.

his mouth still open a little for his next words, but they were stuck. his eyes… They were like he was trying to speak to me through them. words were not needed for him to express what we were trying to say. He was heartbroken at my suffering, he wanted to help me and would do anything. I only had to tell him.

"I don't understand," he said after another second. 

I kept gasping, I clutched at my chest now. it hurt so bad… my whole chest… my stomach… my arms… I began to tug at various parts of my body like I was trying to tear myself apart. I couldn’t bear to be me anymore, I had to escape from myself. I grabbed to pull at my hair, my ears, and when I got to parts of me that I couldn't grab a hold of, like my stomach, I just grabbed a fist full of as much skin as I could to pull on that too. I had already pulled out a little hair which was tangled in my fingers.

"it's me! it's always going to be me! I'm it! I'm the problem i- i- i-," i pause for a second as something else hit me.

"familiar," I mouthed with no sound, it was all I had.

"familiar," I said with volume this time.

still, it was all I had. his eyes grew so regretful and he reached for me slowly to make sure I wouldn't reject him. I was physically unresponsive though. this new realization at how familiar this pain was, it was just intensified. a part of me wanted him to comfort me and the other wanted to hit him, just slap at him in an incoherent release of raw emotion. not with the intention to hurt him, just take it out on someone.

the two were so evenly matched, I could do nothing. my face was… I can't even describe it. I just knew how I felt. the look i bore into him now was the same look i would give Johnny, Maze, Skylar, Lauren or anyone else in my current line of sight. I saw the rest of the world in his face now and everyone in it. all the things that have happened, are happening and will happen. the emotions that come with these happenings: past, present, future. people i would know, have known, do know and the pain they have caused, are causing and will cause. everything laid out neatly in a manner easy to grasp, like an epiphany. yes an epiphany. and i was only 25…

I was in a dark abyss standing alone as everything was before me, not out to get me, just unbalanced. it's only natural for it to overcome me. I mean, I can kick and scream all i want, but if you light a healthy tree on fire with enough accelerant, eventually it will burn. ya gotta feed it consistently and be patient, but burn it will. and this thing, this thing in me, it is the excelerant. and the world and everything in it was the fire. people were just tools around me, their purpose to destroy me, intentional or not. they were all just pawns in a game unwillingly orchestrated by me. the feeling of helplessness in this was overwhelming, so much so that I didn't see how there was room for anything else(twilight saga), but still it was a massive steaming pile of disgust with myself. my head drew back some in an attempt to put distance with myself.

it was me, it was always going to be me. I was a problem, plague, a wave of chaos whether I wanted it or not. my intentions didn't matter because the consequences were far and got people hurt. and this pain, this pain that I caused to them was their own and yet it seemed this was also a weapon against me. their loss is more fire that licks at my resolve. my endurance is almost exhausted, my will shot. familiar... I started shacking violently, finally beginning to react to my epiphany. shaking my head back and forth closing my eyes despite seeing nothing. I think he had his arms around me…

I can't handle this. I can't go on. I can't live like this. I can't exist like this. I can't go on. I can't face them. how can I live when I hurt so many people? i can't stay here. i can't be with him. i cant open my eyes, i can't face the world in front of me. how can i live with constant trama? i can't be here. i don't wanna be here. if not here, where? no where. I don't want to die, I just don't want to be anywhere. I can't do this. I can't be here. I can't handle this. I can't face this world anymore. I have too. I can't. open your eyes, I hear someone calling out for me to breng me back. I can't. I can't come back. I can't take any more. I tell my mouth to open, my lungs to push out air and my vocal cords to spit out the hardest loudest scream imaginable. to push all of this out of me. I hear it muffled in the background, but it doesn't get anything out of me. i- i- i- i can't. i- i-

my eyes burn against the light. I try to open them, my head is on a hard surface as I lay upon it. I squeeze them shut and blink hard a few times to try and adjust. I hear fighting in the background. grunts and yells of fury, with the sounds of metal slicing thro the air and body parts clashing. Then I heard the sound of someone crashing into something. it sounded like wood breaking, like a woman just got thrown into something. 

“Stay down,” a threatening, deep voice orders them.

wood moving around as she gets up fast… the sound of more struggling. the man sounds… like Batman. It took me a second as I feel confused, but I know that voice anywhere. it came out in a painful yell of pain that was cut off in a controlled grunt. I heard maze scream as something cracked. my eyes were finally adjusting and I turned my head towards the commotion. Batman was holding his side as he staggered backwards, a knife in his abdomen. Mazikeen was also staggering as she held her ribs. they were only a few feet away from me. Maze was limping on one of her legs before she straightened out. she bounced in place a few times to make sure it was capable before she sprinted to leap at him.

He parried to the left to avoid her knife. maze accommodated by sliding low and turned to the side to face him. Once she reached the end of her slide a blade came out of the front and back. she threw her leg into the air, keeping it straight and gripping her own ankle before he was off the ground. Her poster straightened as she pulled her leg against her body, straining the tissues to release it with a feral shout on top of Batman as she added her own force with the momentum. He was pulling the blade out of his gut with no reaction. He caught her foot and she came down with the blade in her hand to stick him in the thigh with that one too. He gave a low grunt, but otherwise had no reaction.

She rolled backwards away from him to jump up, obviously thinking it had bought her an opening. Batman was up with her though to faced her again. He rushed her to tried and knee her in the face with a yell as he jumps up, but she rolled backwards again. Reaching into his belt he threw something black at her and it stuck into her shoulder. she cried in reaction, but immediately yanked it out with another yell, only this one was filled with rage. It hit the ground when she tossed it to the side, the sound of metal on concrete, as it skidded across the ground.

"arrrr!" she sounded furious, "you're too late! she told me everything!"

"You're lying," I heard Batman reply. He pulled the knife out without any reaction at all to throw it away from them. his voice was completely calm and controlled, “what's wrong Mazikeen? I thought you liked a challenge and a good fight?”

Maze started backing away, baring her teeth at him. She knew she was losing, that he was about to finish her off. It didn’t look like they'd been fighting long. she brought out a few knives from her belt. Throwing them one after the other at him, she continued to back away towards me. He ducked and dodged the knives, even swatting a few away when he couldn’t move fast enough. The last one he caught and held in the air to give Mazikeen a look as she blinked hard in reaction to it.. Then without any warning maze broke off to run towards me, obviously wanting to use me against him somehow. She was only two meters away when I heard a sharp pop. I recognized it as the sound of his grapple gun and she jerked backwards so hard her feet went into the air before she hit the ground. Batman was behind her, straightening out from the stance of yanking on the cord to stop her.

Mazikeen started reaching for her belt again for more knives. Batman dropped the gun and started sprinting towards her. Reaching into his belt, he threw what looked like little beads. They landed around her, popping like firecrackers. A little white smoke came out of them from the tiny explosion that illuminated the white smoke and causing a blinding flashes of light. I squeezed my eyes shut. the last image I saw was burned into my sight for a second. I blinked hard to try and see again, but it took several seconds before I could. I heard mazikeen grunt hard before it turned into struggling chokes. I was starting to be able to see again. He had her in a choke hold, but the kind where they have you under the arm too so it drives your shoulder into your neck. His eyes were hard and I could see his arm muscles locked in place to choke her out. She pushed her feet into the ground lifting her body up to try and turn sideways or loosen his grip.

When that didn’t work, she pulled her legs up to jerk them into the air so that her feet were higher than them for a second. I was sure it would topple them forward from her weight, but Batman held onto her still. Then she tried to put her body off to the side to push behind him while putting her leg behind his own. Then she tried to trip him with her body weight and make him fall over her leg. That didn’t work either and all he did was lock his frame in place as he also turned with her to keep her from being able to get behind him good. He held firm and her effort only seemed to tighten his arm around her. It didn’t look like he was having to put a lot of effort into holding her in place, though he was easily almost three times her size.

She tried to use the arm over her head from her shoulder being driven into her neck to reach his face, but he had his head tilted backwards so she couldn’t reach him. Her other arm reached around everywhere to try and grab at anything, his arms, his face, they even tried reaching behind her. She got a hand full of cape, but let go, knowing it did no good. Then she drove her elbow into his stomach over his wound and gave one huge push off the ground making them fall backwards as Batman let out one short, low grunt of pain. Mazikeen was on top of him now, but he still held fast. They rolled from side to side with her struggles, but no matter how hard she fought he refused to release her. 

Then she made a hard fist and straightened out her arm before her to drive her elbow backwards into his stomach again, right where she had stabbed him. He shouted and it was once again cut off into a controlled grunt, like all of his cries of pain. He didn’t budge an inch though and she did it again. This time his cry was louder and when her elbow hit him again and again his yells got less and less controlled. Eventually it was too much and he let her go gripping his side as she rolled off of him. Wow. Maze could really hold her breath though that was probably only around twenty seconds. They both had to take a few seconds to collect themselves. Maze was on her hands and knees, holding her throat as she gagged on air.

Batman was on his back still, but gave a few deep heavy breaths and put his legs in the air to jerk them down to the ground to impact with his feet flat. He put his arms up at the same time to jerk them down as well while the momentum from his legs rolled down his entire body to get him standing quickly. He stood ready again like nothing had even happened. Instant rebuff. She, on the other hand, was looking worn down, but she was on her feet at least, holding her side. She started to come at me again, even though it probably wasn’t the best move to put her back to him seeing as he was right behind her. her eyes had a glaze of rage that made her look impulsive. She wasn’t used to having to fight this hard. He grabbed her by her hair to yank her backwards, throwing her far behind him with a shout of fury. He roared at maze as he threw her across the concrete.

I heard mazikeen groan as she tumbled a few times, a crate stopping her as she impacked it. He was walking toward her, his body language a lot more aggressive now. Maze stood up unsteadily, woobily for a second before she leveled herself out. She was clutching her rib for a second before straightening, ignoring the pain from it again. Taking out a knife she swiped at Batman as he got to her. He ducked under the first, dodged to the left for the second and caught the third. 

**“Enough!“** he roared at her.

she came in with her other recurved blade to slice at the opening in his abdomen under his grip of her other wrist, ignoring him. I thought for sure she would slice him. He anticipated her going for the opening and used the razors in his forearms to catch the curved blade. The force behind the attack lodged it in place and the razor folded into his forearm, all but the one the blade was caught under. she tried to yank it out, but it was definitely stuck. with her blade stuck in his left forearm and a firm grip on her wrist in his other hand, he bent his body down as he twisted under their entangled limbs. The knife was ripped from her grasp with the razors and he kept a grip on her wrist, pulling it over his head to place it over his shoulder. he stood straight to get her off the ground, then he yanked and bounced in place hard at the same time. I heard the pop as her shoulder dislocated. maze shrieked in outrage and pain, but mostly anger. the knife fell from her other hand as she lost control of it and I expected him to drop her.

Maze was trying to grab at him with her other hand, but there was nothing to grab at. his mask protected everything she could reach. Then he leaned back some to give it some slack so gravity pulled her arm under her shoulder over his own. Then he yanked down to break her arm over her elbow. the snap would have been gut wrenching if I cared. For the first time she cried out of only torment now. he released and turned to stand over her. mazikeen was on the ground and he reached down to grab her around the throat. she tried to slice at him with a knife she got from somewhere with her good arm. He wrapped his hand around the hilt over her own grip. I heard a crunch as he crushed her hand. Once again, maze shrieked.

"guess you won't be using your money makers for a while," he mocked her, "do you think the new boss will keep you when he finishes his take over now?"

he pulled her off the ground slowly towards him by the throat. I couldn’t see his face well from this angel, but I wouldn't want to be the one it was directed at, that’s for sure. just hearing his voice was enough to tell me this. It was purely terrifying. 

"fuck......you," she managed threw her clunch teeth as she struggled to breath.

he shoved her down and she fell to the ground. Taking off her boots, he threw them away from them too. He worked her over to remove the rest of her knives, feeling everywhere on her body to be as thorough as possible, but kept his hands flat like someone at an airport. there had to be at least eight more knives… jezz mazikeen. He threw them far away from us, I could hear them sliding on the ground. Then he stood.

"Robin, you almost done?" he raised his arm, but nothing was in front of it, "I am as well. I need to ask mazikeen a few questions."

he lowered his arm to glare at her. I had a chance to focus on something other than them now that he seemed to have it under control. I took in the room around them. There were bodies unconscious all around in awkward positions. Bullets casing everywhere and in one spot there was even white power coating the ground and a girl laying face down with a bone sticking out of her leg. Most of the long fold out tables were overturned, one was even broken down the middle. Then I saw that it had been broken by the man lying in it. Everything was in chaos… Did he and Robin take all these goons down themselves?

I glanced myself over now, I was in my pajamas with no socks or bra on. I was damp all over only my back was the wettest. I couldn't see myself too well because I wasn't about to lift my head to get a better look, but it was to the side enough I could see my nipples were showing thro my shirt damp shirt. Luckily my shirt was dark enough it was just the shape. I was freezing too, but just didn't care though despite just how cold I was. everything was a little distorted as far as general discomfort, whether it was the soreness or the burning in my throat or that I was freezing, but I didn't mind any of it. my sight was… colorful… just vivid almost… like every color around me was brighter and more beautiful. I looked around in wonder... so pretty. Everything was so pretty, even the concrete and especially him.

"I'm no snitch," she gave him a twisted smile and chuckled darkly, "do whatever you're gonna do."

He said nothing, only loaded a small clear capsule with orange liquid into an opening on his forearm then it closed it.

"You are today. you figured out the girl is important to me, but let's see how long it takes you to figure out not to touch her," he said as he did all this, his voice was dark and sincere. I had never heard him speak so spitefully.

he put his palm in her face, fingers curled over the top. thick orange smoke burst into her face, so thick I couldn't see her anymore. Holding her head by her hair, the thick cloud dissipated while he leaned away keeping his distance. He also held something over his mouth, I heard a hissing as he breathed through it. There were a few coughs and chokes that came out of her, thicker with the orange smoke than the dispelling cloud around her at the end. He kept her hair in his grip until it was gone and dropped her. she fell to the ground. He waited on one knee beside her. mumbles came out of her mouth growing in volume until they became more clear.

"no, no please let me out, the dark!” she cried.

as soon as she said dark he brought his cape from behind him to cover the top half of her frame. she screamed louder and started fighting him. Her good arm went around her trying to reach for what she couldn’t see, even though her hand was broken and she had no hope of using it. her legs began to kick wildly around her. He put his knee on top of her chest to hold her in her torment for a little longer, letting the panic grow.

"No pleeeease! please let me out. I can't be in that room. that room. so dark. no sun. let me out!" 

"Mazikeen," he said her name clear and loud. She put her broken hand in front of her face in defense of him calling her name, "do you want me to let you out?"

"yes please let me out! I'll be good, I promise! He's kept me in for days!" she sobbed now.

That was something I didn't think maze was capable of. Nor did I think she was capable of that kind of fear and submission. when she spoke her voice was small and high like a child.

“Okay, I let you out,“ he took his cape off her, “who told you to take Anna?"

he referred to me as Anna... I don't... I don't like that…

"I'm- I'm not supposed to say," she said so low I could barely make it out.

he brought his cape forward to cover her in darkness again. She screamed and used the only arm that would respond to try and get it off. He removed it after letting her cry for at least ten seconds and put it behind him.

"who told you to take Anna?" he asked, sounding a little more impatient.

"white!" she answered in a terrified pant. she was still kicking her feet around trying to get out from under him, “White! I don’t know if that's even his name!”

"it wasn't johnny?" he pressed.

"no! Johnny wanted to, but white was the one who told me to do it! If anyone asked, i was supposed to say he was just letting Johnny do it, but he wanted her!"

“Why does he want her?” Batman asked like he already knew the answer.

“He’s just heard she’s special, he was curious, but his interest was also because of your interest in her!”

"Where is he?" when she didn't respond he brought the cape forward some to frighten her.

"I don't know!“ she shook her head back and forth with her sobs, “he mails me prepaid phones every three days to communicate. no return address, no fingerprints or DNA and the payments come in cash! I’ve tried to find him myself, but no one has ever seen or heard of him, I swear!”

"what did you ask Anna when you interrogated her?" he leaned onto her more and she gasped at the pressure.

"he wanted to know about Anna's gift, the limits and about ya'lls relationship!" she gave him in rushed words.

"I want details!" he roared at her now, his teeth bared and he bucked at her. she cried loudly and looked away from him.

"i- i- um… he wanted to know what kind of reactions it can make, what makes it stronger or what kind of control she has," she peeked back at him now, “he asked if she was a virgin and if y’all where were together. If you gave her the bracelet and if the girl I stabbed was sent by you."

"what else did he want to know?" he said through clenched teeth a little less aggressive now, though it was still dripping with controlled fury.

“He wanted to know if you had seen her besides when it was necessary, if yall have been physical, like even just kissed and if you cared about each other.”

“What else?!” Batman seemed to be getting more angry now and when he yelled at her this time, he shook her a little.

"that's as far as he got before she locked up on us! he told us to try again later! she wouldn't say where y'all where!" she was more still under him.

"Was he here?"

"no, we set up a video chat on a laptop so he could watch and control it, but we couldn't see him," her voice shook the more she spoke, "please don't put me back in the dark room. i- i- don't wanna go back."

"I won't put you back in the room if you keep telling me what I want to know. was it recorded?" he kept it moving. she nodded her head slowly at him.

"where is the laptop?" He asked. she pointed somewhere out of my sight.

“Now, if you lie about this I'm not only going to put you back in the room, but I’m going to break your collarbone Mazikeen. It's one of the worst injuries someone can have. Do you understand?” He said these words very harshly at her.

“Did anyone touch her inappropriately tonight at all?” He asked.

A sound of desperation came out of her and she wiggled under him a little. He put some pressure with his palm on her collarbone. 

“think about your response **very** carefully. I won't break it unless you lie, regardless of what you say.”

“I- i- i- a guy named Darnell was in the backseat with her on the way. He tried to mess with her, but didn't get very far because she started kicking and screaming. It annoyed me, so I ordered him to stop,” her voice shook so much at this.

“And how far did he get?” He pushed for specifics to be sure.

“He was just on her kissing her neck some, started trying to take her pants off,” she started sobbing, “but she freaked before they even got off her ass. she was already worked up so it didn't take much.”

I saw his eyes relax a little relieved, but they were also even more angry somehow. he got off of her and gripped under her good shoulder to lift her. he raised his left arm in front of him, I had only ever seen him use the invisible hologram over his right arm but i guess he had it in both.

"Robin?" he tried to raise his partner.


End file.
